Scary Girl
by J. Merritt
Summary: A Leah-centric fanfic told in 100-ish word snippets.
1. Chapter 1

**.Name.**

She had, of course, heard of him before. A god of many names, many faces and many, many troubles. Tyr spat his name with bitter anger. Hela sighed it with resigned suffering. The dead cursed and gnawed and writhed it from putrid lips like posion.

Still, as the young boy smiled at her, spouting silly flattery like a hapless young magician weaving his first spell, she could not reconcile the two. Loki he may be, but surly _this_ Loki wasn't what they claimed.


	2. Chapter 2

**.Stranded. **

Panic was first, betrayal a step behind as tears she refused to shed blurred the edge of her vision. Only when the last of the dead had vanished with her Mistress into the shifting mists, did she follow him out of the only home she'd ever known.


	3. Chapter 3

**.Secret.**

A slave's suffering is beneath their master's notice. Complaining would only incur wrath. Still she could not prevent the bitter words dripping from her lips.

A hole.

Her new master had condemned her to a great, dirty hole as if she were a shameful secret to be burried away. The indignity was more than she could bear, but what choice did she have?

With promises of trinkets to ease her discomfort, Loki ran from the cave leaving her with nothing but the suffocating dark.


	4. Chapter 4

**.Pet.**

It had taken over her cave, rolling, drooling, pissing and burning everything in its wake all while promising death to Asgard.

At the moment she shared its manifesto, at least towards one particular Asgardian.

When it stole the feeble dinner she'd managed to scavenge, it became clear a line had to be drawn - immediately. Her Mistress had commanded her to serve Loki, but nothing had been said of pet-sitting.

In a flash of green the portal opened, the Hel-pup vanished, and the distant cries of once slumbering Asgardians filled the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**.Dinner Party.**

She stared at the churned concoction in emotional disarray, rules of etiquette restricting any action. Propriety demanded she accept the proffered drink while also demanding she not take from her master's plate. Let alone sit at his table.

Then again, Loki did have a knack for inducing chaos.

He pestered her to play the angriest of birds, badgered her to scrawl the Tumblr pages, and needled her to chronicle trivial experiences pictorially as the mortals did. When she refused, he simply pouted.

Unlike her Mistress, he made no demands of her - other than her continued company - seemingly content to treat her as his equal.

B.F.F.

She would have to look that one up, but first, she would try the shaken milk.


	6. Chapter 6

**.Insecurity.**

She had been foolish. Loki was a God of lies. Deceit was second nature to him. That he would sacrifice innocent lives to save himself should not have surprised her. That he would order her to obey his cowardly whims should not have hurt as it did.

Best friends forever.

He'd lied.

She was as she had always been, a tool for her master to wield. Friendship, like freedom, was a pretty lie she would not believe again.


	7. Chapter 7

**.Luck.**

He schemed and stumbled, plotted and played. More often than not his grand plans hinged on the whims of others.

God of Mischief? She thought not. More like the God of Dumb Luck.


	8. Chapter 8

**.Hate.**

She hated him.

She hated that he always played his games alone. She thought they might be a fun distraction.

She hated that he talked in riddles and codes she didn't understand. She would've liked someone her age to talk to.

She hated that he mocked and berated her for helping their foster mother*. She just wanted to be useful.

She hated that he forgot that she was a foster child too, just trying to survive in this new home.

She hated him.

If she said it often enough, she could almost believe it.

* * *

_*Author's Note: Takes place during Exiled : The Journey into Mystery / New Mutants crossover_


	9. Chapter 9

**.Awe.**

Duty was more than mere responsibility; it was the blood that ran in her veins, the breath that filled her lungs, the very marrow of her bones. She could no more ignore her assigned duties than Loki could remain quiet for five minutes.

That Loki could so easily ignore his responsibilities filled her with equal measure of disdain and awe. Freedom was a luxury she'd never tasted.


	10. Chapter 10

**.Sacrifice. **

Betrayal had followed him out of Hel, curdling to despair when abandoned to the suffocating darkness of a cave. Hate seethed and twisted with disgust when ordered to obey, sacrificing many to save one selfish boy. Loneliness ebbed with the addition of a fire-breathing mutt, though pride would never allow such a confession, while caution and suspicion gave way to curiosity and guarded amusement over his preoccupation with all things Midgard.

Feigned embarrassments hide blossoming warmth, though in truth they were rarely feigned. Mocking words lost their edge, settling into awkward comforts that might have been tender if they were anyone else.

Fear kept her rooted when the line of friendship blurred, desires conflicting with duty of an evanescent being. Sacrifice was in her nature.


	11. Chapter 11

**.Nostalgia.**

Each step pinched the breath from her lungs. Each step bringing her closer to finite death gods could not comprehend. Though she had served faithfully, fought bravely, the halls of Valhalla would not welcome her, nor would the shifting mists of Hel receive her.

She was to be erased. A smear of her Mistress's name, destined to become less than the last whisper of a dying man, as easily forgotten as the last autumn leaf. Forgotten by all, but one lonely boy.

She would miss him.


End file.
